We are hoping to inspire Foster carers – and those contemplating becoming foster carers – to attend the next autism show being held at Event City in Manchester this June 29th/30th. Our Fostering Services Director at Rainbow, Afshan Ahmad, will be giving a presentation on Autism and Fostering on the morning of the 30th.

There are growing numbers of Children coming into foster care with a wide range of special needs and disabilities. Recognising this, foster care has itself been changing – with a particular emphasis now placed on therapeutic fostering in response to caring for children and young people with complex needs.    

Foster the benefits of an era of changing attitudes.

One of the most important trends in recent years has been the way people with disabilities are now far less likely to be stigmatised. A cause for celebration! Events such as the Paralympics have, of course, played a huge part in this. And not forgetting of course the life – and now legacy – of Professor Stephen Hawking: it’s difficult to be negative toward anyone with a disability – even unconsciously – when Hawking taught us all more about the physical universe since Einstein’s theories.

Decades ago, people with disabilities were subject to prejudice, or just simply ignored by wider society. Thankfully, those days are now a long way behind us. But people suffering from disability still say that the rest of us often all too often concentrate on a particular disability, before thinking about the person. So it can still be easy to define someone in terms of their disability. This is why one of the best things we can collectively do, is to promote the achievements and contributions made by disabled people the world over.

What can still be problematic is language we use. It can perpetuate labels, i.e ‘them and us.’ In a perfect world, we should all think of ourselves as being the same as none of us are genetically perfect. If you are very short sighted and lose your glasses, you’ll understand instantly what it is to be disabled – even if only briefly. Disabled people should be regarded as ‘enablers’ because so many of them have inspired the rest of us in our daily lives. We benefit from examples that we can relate to. So, in thinking about ASD, perhaps some perceptions can be shifted by considering some well known individuals with ASD who have made a significant contribution to life and culture. The following list of well known people with autism includes the full spectrum of the diagnosis. And there are many famous people that are only now being diagnosed as adults. Here are just some – as well as other renowned figures from the past – definitely on the spectrum, or thought to have been:

the actress Daryl Hannah has been diagnosed with Asperger’s syndrome; the highly original film director Tim Burton has also been diagnosed as having Asperger’s syndrome; Dr Judih Gould – director of Eliot House, the UK’s leading diagnostic centre for autism and Asperger’s syndrome has suggested that Andy Warhol’s fondness for repetition was a symptom for autism; film director Stanley Kubrick was retrospectively diagnosed with Asperger’s syndrome by Dr. Michael Fitzgerald and the autistic author and savant Temple Grandin. 

Intriguingly, there are some renowned figures from the past whose patterns of behaviour strongly suggest they may have been on the autistic spectrum – Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: this musical genius was reported to have had very sensitive hearing and repeated certain facial expressions. Apparently his hands and feet were in constant motion; Isaac Newton; Charles Darwin and even Albert Einstein – as in his case it was known he experienced delayed language development.

Such an illustrious list of individuals – some of whose work has changed the world and the way we think about life – should certainly make us see ASD in a new light.

We are looking for more people to provide foster care for children with ASD?

Rainbow are an independent foster care agency who provides foster care placements for some particularly vulnerable children and young people. Many of the young people we look after are traumatised as a result of past experiences. Others have a range of special needs or complex behavioural problems.

Would you have what it takes to be able to foster therapeutically and cater for the daily needs of a child with autistic spectrum disorder (ASD)? Therapeutic foster carers can experience a richly rewarding experience through providing this type of foster care. If you decide you want to embark upon this area of foster care, we are more than happy to guide you through the terminology which can often seem confusing: what are therapeutic foster care models; in what ways do therapeutic fostering courses differ; what specialist training for therapeutic foster care can be obtained and does this lead to a qualification?

Briefly: therapeutic foster care has developed as a direct response to the changing needs of children coming into care – along with certain changes in the availability of specialist care. Sadly, the numbers of children coming into the care system have been rising sharply in recent years. What is especially significant, is the kind of children now needing to be ‘looked after’. Figures produced for the national foster care stocktake which were detailed in March 2017, reveal that sixty five percent of children have suffered abuse or neglect prior to their being taken into foster care. This is a large percentage resulting in a high proportion of children having complex behavioural and emotional problems.

Call Rainbow right now on 020 8427 3355 – National Line on 0330 311 2845. Plenty of advice and guidance will be given by our recruitment specialists on all the aspects of foster care. There is no obligation and you can also request an information pack.

Good news at the end of this Rainbow…look out for details of our sizzling Summer ‘scorcher of a day out’ for our foster carers at Southend-on-Sea on the 27th July.

Foster care in the news –

Foster children in England to receive fifteen extra hours free childcare.

25th June, 2018

The Government in Westminster has now announced it will be introducing fifteen additional hours of free childcare for foster children. This will commence in September.  In response to the announcement, the chief executive of (cont.) https://bit.ly/2kJHpsO

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